


Old but New Faces

by AmoralityAndPineScents



Category: Rick and Morty
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Implied/Referenced Character Death, One-Sided Attraction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2019-09-18
Packaged: 2020-10-21 02:02:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20685653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmoralityAndPineScents/pseuds/AmoralityAndPineScents
Summary: Morty likes Rick but his Rick doesn’t like him back, in fact he’s a bigger fucking jerk than C137 Rick. Rick literally drops him off in another dimension except in this one everyone is the opposite gender.





	Old but New Faces

**Author's Note:**

> I tried my best with the tags so bare with me.

It was taking longer than usual as Morty sat on a stool in the garage waiting for Rick to show up for another crazy adventure. 

“Come on Rick I’ve been w-waiting for 10 minutes already,” the brunet called out impatiently without thinking he’d get an answer.

The brunet wondered if other dimension Mortys’ Ricks had been so… Rude but still that’s just in any Ricks nature.

“When did y-you start to actually want to participate in these things, Jesus,” Rick walked in opening his flask to drink out of it.

Morty’s brain froze as he took in all the details of this adult man he had learned to shove his feelings down for a long period of time. He was breathtaking.

Morty covered his mouth as his breath hitched.

“W-what’s wrong Morty, got a cold or something?” Rick raised an eyebrow.

He exhaled, “no it’s just that I…” he instantly felt discouraged. “l-let’s just go Rick,” he got into the spaceship.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

‘I thought I got over my feelings but there he is and I-‘

Morty’s thoughts got disrupted 

“So w-we’re gonna pick up something I need over on this planet Morty, w-we gotta be real careful this time because people like you and me, we just can’t breathe the air the aliens there can.”

“Aw geez, Rick is th-that even safe? Like h-how are we getting stuff there if we can’t breathe?”

“Well duh Morty, i-it’s not like the buildings or the spaceship contain the same air, we’re going inside, I’m not going to death wish us.”

“It’s not like I knew that previously…” he mumbled back.

“W-whatever, cry baby.” The blue-haired scientist replied.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

It went into a comfortable quiet for a while, Morty found himself staring into space, literally. 

His mind was filled with thoughts of the past and his earliest memories with Rick. In particular, there was a time where he had found plain joy in just throwing a ball with his grandfather when he was very young.

But that was a long time ago and things had changed. Morty grew up, and shit happened… Sometimes amazing and wonderful shit out in the universe but still shit, it was even now becoming more mundane.

The boy let out an audible sigh.

‘Why do I always have to make things so much worse by existing?’

“Hey Morty, I-I swear if you’re trying to guilt trip me it’s not going to work.”

“W-what?”

‘Did he just read my mind?’

“Y-you look really disappointed, if you’re gonna be a downer we could always turn back-”

“No,” Morty (quickly countered), “I-I’m fine…”

The spaceship arrived at a small planet colored with light blue glowing leaves on vines and a civilization of buildings.

It also had a neon-green sky filled with pink pyramids Morty could only guess were like clouds.

“What are we picking up again?” 

“I never told y-you to begin with, just follow me when we get there.”

They had parked in a building, the floor, ceiling, and walls were made up of weird shapes plastered in stone.

He obliged with what his grandfather had told him following him while becoming progressively nervous.

It looked almost like a bank, counters with numbers, a line with aliens of multi-colors. The ones at the front desks looking like the same race, purple blobs of slime covered with eyeballs.

The teenager went to walk to the end of the line when he felt a yank on the collar of his shirt. 

“We’re not going th-that way Morty.”

“W-why not?”

“You’ll see”

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

They walked into a direction away from the crowded room into a hallway that was hidden.

“Here’s our stop.”

Morty looked up and saw a rectangular outline of a door on the wall. 

Rick accessed a keypad from the wall and punched in some numbers. The door slid open to reveal a misplaced busy restaurant.

“Woah, w-what the hell Rick, I wasn’t expecting-... oh never mind,” he didn’t see the point in addressing a random environment change, these trips were naturally bizarre.

The old man turned to the boy. “I-urp- am gonna go talk to a worker and get stuff, I-I’ll be back. Here’s some alien currency,” he dropped some palm sized red coins into Morty’s hand, “food here doesn’t hurt humans, in the meantime don’t be stupid.”

The brunet replied sarcastically with an eye roll, “Ouch, w-whatever just go.”

The old man left leaving Morty with no choice but to stay.

‘Now what?’ He sat down at a table by himself. ‘Of course Rick’s in his own world…’ Morty slouched feeling annoyed. ‘He never says anything about what he’s up to, why do I even bother… liking him, oh god… Although I can’t control that...’

“Could I have your order please?” a waiter there asked startling Morty who jumped up.

“Um,” he sat back down looking at the menu, “this?” He pointed to something that only slightly resembled spaghetti… except it was blue…

The extraterrestrial gave an acknowledgement and their head turned like an owl’s to face behind them, Morty shuttered at the scene.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Rick knew that something was going on with his grandson, the teen was always obvious but besides that he didn’t want to think about it, he was more distracted with the task at hand. Finding some rare alcohol in the back storage of this restaurant. 

Not the most appealing thing he could’ve been doing on a Friday but better than the alternative of becoming sober, and this place had the good kind. The kind that distanced you from reality because living wasn’t the most pleasant thing currently…

Everything was plain and no matter what he did it stayed that way. He didn’t want to admit it but he hated it. Feelings were never his thing.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

When the scientist finally found the beverage, there weren't enough bottles in the set that he wanted. He groaned, this was going to take longer than he would’ve preferred.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Morty took a bite of the unnatural colored pasta and it tasted indescribable and not in a good way. It had a strong flavor added to it, kinda like something spicy except worse, he needed something to drink and fast.

Morty tried to get the attention of a waiter but when that looked to be impossible he acted on impulse and chugged a customer’s drink.

He placed the cup back down and apologized, “I-I’m sorry, do you need me to pay for that? I-I need to wait for my crush to get here if what I have isn’t enough right now,” he covered his mouth.

‘What did I just call Rick? Why the fuck…’

“Whatever I’ll just get a new one.” 

The answer was enough of a closure for the boy to sit back down at his table.

‘Oh geez, I hope I don’t mess up labels again, that was awkward, I wonder if I’m just out of it…’

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Morty ended up leaving money on his table for the uneaten meal just before Rick caught up with him.

“Let’s get going Morty,” he held arms full of alcohol bottles in his arms.

They started heading back to the ship but kept up a conversation regardless.

“Why didn’t you say you were j-just getting alcohol?”

“Y-you wouldn’t have wanted to come if we were leaving for just alcohol and oh yeah, I need someone else to help me carry these things so,” he presented the bottles out to Morty who sighed and grabbed some.

“Fine Rick but why do you have to be so selfish all the time? Like why don’t we be more kind in this unforgiving world y-you know?”

“Wow-urp Morty, w-what the hell got into you?”

The teen held an uncomfortable stance, “I-I don’t actually know Rick, I can’t seem to say anything except how I honestly feel,” he thought for a second then started panicking, “i-it might’ve been something I’ve eaten or-.”

The old man rolled his eyes, “Oh brother, it’s not something you’ve eaten it’s most likely something you drank. Y-you probably consumed a truth serum, wait to go (dipshit).”

“Oh geez, what do w-we do now?”

“W-we? It’s all on you Morty, just let it all out while we get back. It takes less than an hour to wear off and th-the more you tell the truth the faster it’ll go away.”

“W-what stupid rule is that?!”

Morty felt his head spinning, if he let himself tell the truth then he’d eventually be talking about his feelings for his grandpa and that would most likely not go well to put it lightly.

While Morty got consumed by his thoughts they had arrived at the ship and Rick had opened the door to place all the booze in the back, they both climbed in.

After a short silence Rick began to speak, “i-it can’t be all that fucking bad Morty,” he started up the ship.

“Like hearing you ramble about your crush Jessica or whatever, that’s nothing compared to what a Rick conference must be like, heard i-it’s a literal nightmare.”

“But Rick I-I’m over Jessica and I’ve started liking someone else.”

“Oh really, who is it now then, another red head?” 

The brunet tried his hardest to not talk covering his mouth with his hands and leaning back in his chair till his elbows dug into the seat but the words tumbled out verbally regardless of Morty’s silent and desperate rebuttal.

“You.”

The space vehicle stopped.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

“That must be a joke,” Rick let out an unamused laugh,“...please for christ’s sake Morty tell me that you taking a truth serum was a lie.” The words were coated with something as bitter as black coffee that someone had let steep for too long.

Morty’s heart broke.

“...I’m sorry Rick, is - is it wrong to have feelings?!” Tears welled up in his eyes and his hands started shaking.

“Well i-it is when you start liking your own grandfather, like what the fuck Morty?!”

“God… I - I… Then what are you gonna do? Get rid of me?”

“Well that seems like the most reasonable th-thing to do now isn’t it?”

“Wait...w-what?”

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

When Rick had said that he wasn’t completely serious but then again… He thought screw it, this Morty would only cause him trouble from then on and he could just get a new one, he had had multiple in the past, and it had been awhile, but this was the last straw.

“Goodbye Morty,” he muttered.

Rick saw the teenage boy’s confused and hurt facial expression just before he set the portal gun to another dimension, opened a portal in front of Morty, and pushed him into it with one quick motion.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Morty woke up with a start and looked around, he let out a sigh.

“It was all j-just a dream,” he murmured in relief.

The teen sat up in bed and relaxed his shoulders, the moment was short lived though as he heard voices in the hallway.

“He must be awake by now right? An unfamiliar lady’s voice speculated.

Another voice replied this time as a young adult male’s, “yeah maybe, just leave me out of it, no matter what you want to believe he’s not Morticia.”

“Of course I know that Winter, i-it’s not like I want this person to replace her.

“Whatever,” a door audibly shut.

After a moment there was a knock on Morty’s bedroom door or at the least to the door that he, previous to the conversation, thought was his.

There was nothing to lose really by this point.

He called out, “hello? Y-you can come in.”

The door slowly opened as a lady with blue shoulder length hair and a lab coat walked in.

“Hi there…” She turned on the light and sat on the end of the bed sideways, “name’s Rita, you kinda fell through a portal, hit your head, th-then passed out.”

“Oh…” ‘That means that Rick really gave up on me, that asshole.’ Multiple tears unconsciously fell from his eyes.

“Woah, are y-you alright?”

“No, not really my Rick got rid of me as soon as I-I told him I held romantic feelings towards him…” The brunet forgot that he might’ve still had the effects of the truth serum but honestly didn’t care and there was nothing he could do to take the words back now.

Rita was slightly taken aback by the teenage boy’s honesty but soon after thought of a reply, “th-that version of me sounds awful, I don’t care about that sort of thing here.”

Morty perked up, “Y-you don’t?”

“No and I’m not that fond of company but y-you can stay here till further news of where you’ll end up, I’ll go get the extra blankets… It gets cold in here,” she got up.

“Th-thanks so much… If you don’t mind me asking, they’d probably go by a different name, but where’s your Morty?”

“Morticia’s gone,” she simply acknowledged with her back turned before walking out of the room.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Morty woke up early in the morning and awkwardly walked downstairs to the kitchen to see if there was anything to eat. It was early enough that no one seemed to be awake and walking through the dark house didn’t seem like that big of a deal considering the fact that it was the same as his but in an alternate dimension. He turned on the kitchen light.

“Ow, my eyes,” Rita’s voice called out.

“Oh I-I’m sorry, I didn’t notice you there.”

“Nah, i-it’s alright kid,” she took out a flask and Morty flinched.

“What? Bad experience with alcohol or something?” She asked.

“W-we were transporting some before... Rick got rid of me,” he frowned while sitting at the counter.

“Ah, bummer,” she took a swig before screwing the cap back on.

There was a short silence before Morty spoke up, “is there anything here to eat?”

“Just cereal, knock yourself out,” she passed a box over to the brunet.

“Cherry flavored Rice Krispies?”

“Winter... ur, Summer in your dimension I believe, wanted to try it, and there’s a whole box, so y-you better get used to it.”

“Aw geez.”

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Rita was having an unusual day, a Morty showed up out of nowhere after Morticia’s death claiming that he liked his grandfather from his dimension. It was slightly similar to her situation of previously liking her granddaughter but it’s not like that mattered though... 

Rita and Morty both ended up in the garage, if there was one thing the scientist wouldn’t have given up on, regardless of what was happening, was experimenting in that room.

“So this is odd b-but uh could we be friends?” Morty pressed.

“Yeah, wouldn’t hurt anything I-I guess,” she lazily responded.

The woman tried distracting herself, to waste the time, by building a small machine and asking for tools from the teenager.

‘I hate how similar they are...’ 

After a while of them working in the room as if it were a natural everyday occurrence, Rita for a second thought that she might’ve felt something romantic start for her alternate universe grandson.  
The somewhat familiar bright curiosity that shone through the brunet’s brown eyes reminded the blue haired woman of a time when she was with Morticia.

Morty spoke up which made the scientist lose her train of thought. “Is th-there anything else we could do? Maybe watch interdimensional cable?

“Oh uh, Sure.”  
Rita finished up what she was doing and started walking towards the living room with Morty following suit.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Morty realized how the truth serum had gone away as he watched tv with this new found stranger who was really a lot like Rick except this version of him… Rita actually appeared to kinda give a shit which was unusual.

His mind seemed to wonder as to why Rick hadn’t appeared as he seemed, he had shown a ton of signs of how he didn’t actually care but also had shown at times that he did. He thought that Rick knew better than to just get rid of him… He couldn’t imagine how anyone that heartless could just get rid of their own grandson that easily… Unless he was originally from a different dimension… God damn it.

“Hey Rita, w-what takes a version of you to become just an asshole?”

“Th-that’s easy, if they find a way to not feel a hint of empathy they’ll just disregard anyone else, relatives, friends, y-you name it, without mercy.”

“I see, h-have you ever been that way?”

“Not really, why?”

“Well, since I got here, even th-though it hasn’t been very long, I feel as if I can’t really trust anyone anymore after the experience I had and if I can’t trust someone I’m scared that I-I’ll end up not wanted by anyone… But I guess that’s j-just silly huh?” Morty rested his cheek upon his hand and Rita became silent in thought.

“That’s not silly at all,” the woman sat right by him, “um… this might be awkward but could I hold y-your hand?” she blushed, eyes still glued to the screen.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

After holding hands for sometime, Morty spoke up, “I have something I have to tell you, I-I think I might like you because you’re basically the same person as who I used to like just a different gender… this is all so complicated,” he felt like hiding his face in shame.

“Same to be honest.”

“Really?!” The boy felt excitement and hope in the words, it was the single most promising thing that had happened in a long time.

“D-does that mean we could date and stuff?!”

“I knew I’d regret this,” Rita whispered out loud to herself then sighed, “uuugh fine but w-we have to keep it from my son alright?”

“I promise,” he grinned content for a while till his smile faded, “hey, w-what about the mom or Winter?”

“Learned I can trust Winter with the information that I-I liked Morticia so I don’t see a problem with that. Your parents divorced in this dimension and so long story short, th-they live separately now. I guess if you see Jenny don’t tell her either.”

Morty didn’t really think before he replied, “w-where did Morticia actually go?”

The atmosphere darkened almost simultaneously and her voice went solemn, “Since I probably owe y-you an explanation and I don’t want to rehash this I guess I’ll tell you.”

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

“I-it was just like any other day, Morticia and Winter went to school, afterwards Winter rode the bus and I was going to pick Morticia up but...”

The Sound of a car screeching reverberated within Rita’s head.

“A car hit her… sh-she instantly died in that moment right in front of my eyes.”

Rita’s facial expression was pained as the first set of tears rolled down onto her lap.

“In the end i-it wasn’t the reckless adventures that stole her existence away from me but a natural unexpected occurrence and h-how could I have been so blind to the probability.”

“Death easily happened to Dayne my husband, w-why wouldn’t the same be for Morticia?”

Morty went slack jawed, “...I-it wasn't your fault, you had nothing to do with it things just happen, let’s just analyze your problems and get you better, not sure how me being here would hel-.”

The last part of his sentence got muffled as Rita kissed him.

As they pulled away Morty blushed, “wait, this is because I-I love you and not the asshole named Rick.” He then leaned in to kiss her as well, it was clear that he was inexperienced with kissing but Rita didn’t mind at all, she just felt relieved that there was someone there.

**Author's Note:**

> I didn’t really give it as much of a satisfying ending as I wanted and kinda hurried through it, I apologize, I didn’t know how to execute most of this. I’m not a professional or anything.


End file.
